Recently Ford announced an intention to put a high-volume, fully autonomous Society of American Engineers-defined level 4-capable vehicle in operation in 2021, with either a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service. As part of that process, Ford is investing in or collaborating with four startups, doubling the size of its Silicon Valley team and its Palo Alto campus.
Autonomous vehicles are being developed as part of Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s overall plan to be a leader in autonomous vehicles, connectivity, mobility, the customer experience, data and analytics. Ford plans to develop its first fully autonomous vehicle to operate without a steering wheel, gas pedal or brake pedal; the vehicle will operate within geo-fenced areas and be available in large volumes for use by ride-hailing and ride-sharing services.
To help this vision come to fruition, Ford has announced four key investments and collaborations: Velodyne, a leader in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors; SAIPS, an Israel-based machine learning and computer vision company; Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, a machine vision company that will help develop human-like intelligence for the virtual driver system; Civil Maps, a pioneer in 3D mapping techniques.
If you’re interested in finding out what else is new at Ford, please visit our showroom at 1610 Wilmington Pike in West Chester. We proudly serve drivers in West Chester, Aston, Kennett Square, Media and Glen Mills areas.